The Beijing-Kowloon Through Train is an intercity railway service between Hung Hom Station (which was called Kowloon Station until 1998) in Hong Kong and the Beijing West Railway Station, jointly operated by the MTR of Hong Kong and China's national rail service. The train runs to Beijing and Hong Kong every other day. Services use the East Rail Line in Hong Kong, cross the boundary between Hong Kong and mainland China at Lo Wu and then continue along China's railway network via the Guangshen railway and the Jingguang railway to Beijing. Total journey time is approximately 23 hours, and the train uses 25T class train carriages.
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The train is actually made up of two parts: to the 11 carriages that depart Hong Kong (which travel under number T97B from Beijing and T98B from Hong Kong), another 8 are added at Guangzhou East Railway Station (using number T97A/T98A). Along the route, trains stop at Changsha, Wuhan and Zhengzhou; yet only passengers travelling from Guangzhou can get off at these stations, and from Hong Kong only a service to Beijing is provided. Passengers taking T97A/T98A (Beijing West-Guangzhou East) can.
| Carriage number | 1 | 2 | 3－5 | 6－9 | 10 | 11 | 12-15 | 16-17 | 18 | 19 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Type of carriages | XL25T Baggage van (Chinese: 行李车) |
YW25T Hard sleeper (Chinese: 硬卧车) |
YW25T Hard Sleeper (Chinese: 硬卧车) |
RW25T Soft sleeper (Chinese: 软卧车) |
RW19T Luxury Soft Sleeper (Chinese: 高级包厢软卧车） |
CA25T Dining car (Chinese: 餐车) |
YW25T Hard Sleeper |
YZ25T Hard seat (Chinese: 硬座车) |
YW25T Hard Sleeper |
UZ25T postal car (Chinese: 邮政车) |
| Notes | Carriages No.1-11 go to Hong Kong（T97B/98B） | Carriages No.12-19 only serve passengers taking T97A/98A | ||||||||
The train changes locomotives once on the way.
| Sections | Kowloon－Guangzhou East | Guangzhou East－Wuchang－Beijing West |
|---|---|---|
| Locomotives and their allocation | SS8 electric locomotive Guangzhou Railway Group Guangzhou Depot (Chinese: 广铁广段) |
SS9 electric locomotive Guangzhou Railway Group Guangzhou Depot (Chinese: 广铁广段) or Beijing Railway Bureau Beijing Depot (Chinese: 京局京段) |
At the moment, the online ticket ordering system is slow, and only available to Hong Kong residents. Ordering of tickets requires extensive registration, including a credit card number, and tickets can only be delivered in the Hong Kong SAR, which makes it impossible for most non-HK resident customers to order. Travellers for Beijing may purchase Northbound tickets in Hong Kong at MTR (Mass Transit Railway) Service Centres, or at the Hung Hom Station. Southbound tickets from Beijing to Hong Kong must be purchased in Beijing, and can be ordered from Travel Agencies or at the Beijing West station.
| T97 | Stops | T98 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arrive | Depart | Arrive | Depart | |
| — | 13:08 | Beijing West | 14:51 | — |
| 18:40 | 18:44 | Zhengzhou | 09:15 | 09:18 |
| 23:16 | 23:33 | Wuchang | 04:30 | 04:42 |
| 03:00 | 03:06 | Changsha | 01:07 | 01:13 |
| 10:10 | 11:03 | Guangzhou East | 17:09 | 18:05 |
| 12:56 | — | Hung Hom | — | 15:15 |